


Theft of the Cardiac Variety

by meowitskatmofo



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coldflash Valentine's Day Exchange, Criminal Barry Allen, First Kiss, Fluffy, M/M, ROGUE BARRY ALLEN, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 10:19:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17785547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meowitskatmofo/pseuds/meowitskatmofo
Summary: Leonard Snart recruits a young speedster to be his newest Rogue and an unexpected romance blooms between them.





	Theft of the Cardiac Variety

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sublightsleeper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sublightsleeper/gifts).



“Name?”

“The Flash,” the young man before him purred excitedly, absolutely _vibrating_ in his seat.

“Your real name,” Leonard Snart tried again, leaning across his desk with a faint scowl. 

The man’s bright smile never faltered, replying dutifully, “Bartholomew Henry Allen."

"And you're a speedster, Bartholomew?" 

"Barry."

"Excuse me?" Leonard frowned faintly.

"You can call me Barry," he said with a shy grin. "And yes, I am a speedster."

“What exactly does that mean?"

"It means I'm the fastest man alive," Barry said proudly. "I can move fast, so very fast you can't even see me-"

"I've heard you can walk through walls," Leonard cut in. "Is that true?"

"Yup."

"And you want to join my Rogues, Barry?"

"Yes," he said earnestly, nodding his head. "Kyle said you guys might have a place for me. I helped him out of a pickle he was in a few days ago with the Santini Family... uhm... he said he would talk to you."

"Don't worry. He did." Leonard leaned back in his chair as a thoughtful smirk curled his lips. “He spoke very highly of you.”

Barry Allen was a small time thief, but he had incredible potential if the stories of his abilities were true. His father was a convicted murderer, a child of the foster care system, and impressively did not have a criminal record yet. Barry was always careful, smart, and yes, very fast. 

Leonard was definitely interested.

It helped that Barry was very handsome, youthful and sweet, bursting with a light that Leonard was immediately attracted to. 

"I'm sure Kyle told you there are rules," Leonard said, folding his long fingers together. "If you want to operate in Central City, it's only because I allow you to do so. You've managed to escape my notice until now..."

"Is that good or bad?" Barry asked curiously.

“Maybe both. It could be good because you're just that clever that you haven't drawn any attention from the authorities," Leonard mused, "but it could be bad because you haven't stolen anything worth making the news. You might be nothing more than a lowly thug with terrible taste and no aspirations for a big catch."

"I just try to keep a low profile," Barry said with a shrug. "If you want me to steal something really fancy to prove myself, just let me know what you want."

"I definitely have something in mind. Something very sparkly and it will definitely make the news." Leonard glanced down at his nails, offering casually, "It's a little trinket called the Spears Crown, valued somewhere in the tens of millions. I have been planning to steal it from the Central City Museum for two months and I am going to make my move tonight."

"Do you want me to go get it right now?" Barry offered eagerly.

Leonard frowned, shaking his head as he said firmly, "No. I want you to accompany me and some of the other Rogues on the heist. Think of this as a test run."

“Like a try out?"

"Mmm, something like that. See if you can get along with the other Rogues and play nicely," Leonard purred. "Think you can handle that, Barry?"

"I can handle anything you give me," Barry promised, a faint twinkle of mischief in his eyes. 

Leonard almost believed him. 

He arranged for Barry to meet him at one of the Rogue safe houses that evening, laying out the blueprints of the museum on a large table. He’d decided to only invite his closest Rogues for this adventure, Lisa Snart and Mick Rory. Being his sister and his best friend, they were the oldest members of the team and he trusted their judgment.

He wanted their opinions on whether or not to recruit the young speedster, although ultimately the decision was his to make. 

When Barry appeared, both Mick and Lisa were clearly startled. The rush of wind and crackle of electricity was alarming, not to mention how magical it seemed for Barry to not be there one second and suddenly appear the next. It was quite incredible.

Lisa recovered quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear and cooing, “Awww, he’s darling, Lenny.”

Barry grinned at the compliment, waving shyly as he said, “Uh, thanks. Hi! I’m Barry.”

Mick grunted, his brows furrowing together as he glanced over at Leonard. The silent expression spoke volumes, Leonard tilting his head in a short nod to acknowledge that he had received the message.

Working with meta-humans was dangerous. Keeping them in line even more so. Although they each had powerful guns they had stolen from Star Labs, all three of the founding Rogues were only human. Mick’s concern was whether or not they would be able to control such a powerful being like Barry if the worst should happen and he ever betrayed them.

And Rogues always planned for the worst.

For now, Leonard gave Mick a warm smile designed to ease his fears and turning to address Barry. “Glad you could join us.” He glanced at his watch for effect even though he knew exactly what time it was, adding sourly, “You’re late.”

“Sorry! There was a cat stuck in a tree over in the Central City Park and I couldn’t leave her up there!” Barry protested, sweeping a hand through his windblown hair. “She did not want to come down without a fight. Took a little longer than I thought.” 

“This is the badass meta you wanna to bring on?” Mick snorted, trying not to laugh.

“It’s adorable,” Lisa chimed in, smirking smugly at Leonard.

“Punctuality is something I value very highly,” Leonard drawled, ignoring both of their comments and focusing on Barry. “Every second of my time is extremely precious to me and I do not appreciate any of it being wasted by you because you wanted to go play hero.”

Barry’s happy light dimmed a little, stammering, “H-Hey! Captain Cold! Look, I’m sorry!”

“Do you want to be a hero or be a Rogue?” Leonard demanded sharply. “Make a choice, Barry.”

“A Rogue!” Barry replied immediately, his hands clenching into fists and glaring stubbornly. “It won’t happen again, okay?”

“We’ll see,” Leonard said coolly, his upper lip curling up sourly. He moved back to give the blueprint on the table his full attention, tapping it as he began, “Now, this is our target for this evening. The Central City Museum. Amongst its many treasures is the Spears Crown.”

“Is that all we’re swiping?” Mick asked, scanning over the blueprint. He had already forgotten about Barry, now entirely focused on the plan ahead.

“That’s it,” Leonard replied. “Trust me; this is the single most valuable item in the entire museum. Trying to take anything else would be a waste of time.”

“Fine. How are we gonna get it out?”

“The crown is in a pressure activated glass case behind seven different layers of security including fingerprint scanning and a voice recognition release,” Leonard rattled off, not thinking much of the way the blueprint fluttered beneath his hands. “The first is a perimeter alarm right outside the exhibition hall that must be dismantled locally.”

“Huh. Does it have two large teardrop cut sapphires?” Lisa asked, cocking her head and looking over Len’s shoulder. 

“The Spears Crown? Yes,” Len replied impatiently. “Now, perimeter has a ten second delay-“

“And looks like, mmm, maybe ten or twelve diamond clusters?”

“Definitely twelve,” Mick chuckled heartily, also looking over Leonard’s shoulder and grinning wide.

“Yes!” Len snapped. “I don’t understand what you’re going on about...” He followed their gaze, whirling around to find Barry leaning against the wall behind him.

He was smiling playfully, giving Len a big wave. 

On top of his head was the Spears Crown. 

It took every ounce of self-control for Leonard not to let his blatant shock show through. He cleared his throat, saying calmly, “Not bad.”

“Not bad?” Lisa echoed, scoffing as she gestured at Barry. “Do you not see what he just did? He just stole that crown in like ten seconds!”

“Pretty hot shit,” Mick said, nodding in approval. He crossed his arms, smirking as he grunted, “I like him.”

“So,” Barry said, taking off the dazzling crown and smiling brightly as he presented it to Leonard. “Does this mean I’m in your little club or what?”

Leonard took the crown, running his fingers over the shining jewels as he pretended to think it over. He glanced back to Mick and Lisa, certain that they were all on the same page. His eyes flickered back to Barry, taking his sweet time to answer before he finally said, “Yes, Barry. You’re in.”

“Yes!” Barry cheered, pumping his fist in the air like he had just scored a touchdown. He grinned goofily, blushing profusely as he cleared his throat. “Eh, you know, thank you. Thank you very much.”

“I think we’re going to make a lot of money together,” Leonard said with a greedy smirk. 

“Can’t wait.” 

The next few weeks were filled with amazing heists and spectacular payouts. It was often as easy as telling Barry what they wanted stolen and waiting a few seconds for him to appear with the loot, always smiling and very proud of himself. It didn’t make for a very satisfactory heist, so Leonard found other ways for Barry to help out on jobs without speeding right through them.

His electricity was very handy for shorting out alarms and Leonard enjoyed all the time they were spending together. He taught the aspiring thief everything he knew, finding him a very willing and eager student. He was absolutely fascinated by Barry, soft and sweet yet hard and stubborn, a beautiful and conflicted result of a harsh human experience that he couldn’t get enough of. 

Barry was constantly looking for positive reinforcement and attention, a lonely young man who desperately wanted to regain the family that he had lost. Leonard soon learned the true tragedy of his father’s incarceration, an innocent man wrongly convicted for the crime of killing Barry’s mother. He wasn’t sure why, but he believed Barry when he said his father didn’t do it.

Perhaps it was because he knew what it was like to try and tell the truth and have no one believe it. There were too many times when he was young that he had tried to tell someone about his father, his claims of abuse always falling on deaf ears before finally learning to live with it. It was easier that way, the punishments minimal as long as Leonard learned to suffer his lessons in silence.

No one would believe him anyway, he’d thought, deciding that was why it was so easy to empathize with Barry’s struggle.

Leonard was happy to provide the surrogate family that Barry so eagerly wanted. Lisa absolutely adored him and even Mick was becoming quite fond of him. Together, all broken and strange, they looked out for each other, cared for one another, and Leonard felt that his life was complete for the very first time.

All because of Barry Allen.

Barry, who had an amazing smile and a positively infectious laugh; Barry, who was downright bashful and shy, always blushing the most spectacular shade of red when he was teased; Barry, who convinced them all that they could steal without taking innocent lives because they were Rogues and Rogues were better than that;

Bartholomew Henry Allen, the young man Leonard had only known for a short while but now couldn’t imagine living without.

He shouldn’t have been surprised that Barry was going to make the first move.

The attraction between them was obvious, the sexual tension often reaching points of boiling, but Leonard was holding back despite Barry’s eager interest. Their relationship was good for business, but beyond that was uncharted territory. He didn’t want to risk ruining what they had for a romance that might fail as so many had before.

Barry apparently didn’t agree, impatient as he ever was, suddenly grabbing Leonard one day after finishing a big job and whisking him away to a nearby rooftop. It was a very special holiday and they had taken full advantage of Central City jewelry store’s abundant stock, stealing enough gems to leave every member of the Rogues absolutely dripping in diamonds. 

Leonard’s stomach lurched as Barry finally brought the spinning world to a stop, staring at his new surroundings and at a total loss for words.

The rooftop was lit by candles and warm paper lanterns on strings, a table set for two with champagne and roast duck waiting for them. There were flowers everywhere, soft jazzy playing, and Barry was absolutely bouncing as he asked coyly, “Well, what do you think?”

“I think you’ve gone insane,” Leonard replied, blinking as he took it all in. “What is this?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Barry said slowly as if that explained this insanity. 

The dinner, the candles, the roses. 

This was a date!

“Is this your way of asking me out?” Leonard asked, laughing softly. “Kidnapping me on Valentine’s Day?”

“Well,” Barry said with a bashful smile, his cheeks flushing beautifully, “you’re the one that’s always saying to go after the things you want.”

“Mmm, and it’s me you want, is it?”

“Pretty much,” Barry chuckled, offering Leonard a glass of champagne. “It’s also my way of thanking you.”

“Thanking me? What have I done to earn myself such gratitude?”

“You made me a Rogue,” Barry replied earnestly. “You believe in me. You trust me. That means… it means a lot to me.”

“Always,” Leonard said with surprising passion. He had never met anyone like Barry, someone who still managed to carry such a brilliant light inside of them in spite of having lived such a dark life. 

It was easy to imagine Barry as the hero whose awesome potential would waste away saving cats from trees and he was glad that the beautiful speedster was his Rogue instead.

Barry was so very close, not yet touching, but making his intentions very obvious as he said, “You know, the two of us together would be pretty unstoppable.”

“Together?” Leonard repeated, his attentions drawn to Barry’s lips. “Being my Rogue isn’t enough of a commitment for you?”

“Nope,” Barry said with a big grin. “I’m kind of greedy that way. You know, always wanting more. And when it comes to you, well, I definitely want it all.”

Leonard definitely agreed, his hand cupping Barry’s cheek and crashing their lips together in a fierce kiss. Barry was as electric in his affections as he was with everything, eager and passionate, moaning softly when their tongues first touched. 

He wanted all Barry had to offer, his champagne forgotten and tossed to the floor as he let his hands explore the speedster’s gorgeous body as they kissed. It had been a very long time since he had allowed himself to have anything like this but he decided that he had earned it. After decades of hard work, pulling everything from cheap scams to million dollar heists, he had found a prize that was totally without compare;

His very own speedster.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! :D


End file.
